*4.1. Materials*

Edible Natural Zeolite was purchased by a local pharmacy market. Sodium Alginate was purchased from Acros-Organics (Zeel West Zone 2, Janssen Pharmaceuticalaan 3a B2440 Geel, Belgium). Glycerol was purchased from Carlo-Erba (Denzlinger Str. 27, 79312 Emmendingen, Germany). Thyme oil was purchased from a local pharmacy market and produced by Chemco (Via Achille Grandi, 13–13/A, 42030 Vezzano sul Crostolo RE, Italy). The cottage cheese which used during the experimental process was purchased from a local Greek market with the brand name TYRAS, TYRAS S.A., Trikala, Thessalia, Greece, and immediately transferred to the laboratory refrigerator and stored under a temperature of 4 ◦C. According to the products specification, the expiration date of the product was 12 days after the production date. Moreover, the product expired in 4 days if the package film opened. Furthermore, the product could be stored for 75 days if it was freezed at temperature below −16◦C and with closed packaging film. The PCA was found 7.52 cfu/g, while pH was determined at 4.9.
